Sewage Suits Yield Top Enviro Settlements Of 2010

By Dietrich Knauth

Law360, New York (December 27, 2010, 5:11 PM ET) -- From Honolulu to Boston, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has initiated or intervened in dozens of actions against cities whose aging and overwhelmed municipal sewage systems spill pollutants into U.S. rivers, lakes and streams, with sewer upgrades accounting for four of the top 10 environmental settlements of the year.

So far, the agency has reached settlements with Kansas City, Mo., and three Ohio cities, including Cleveland, whose $3 billion overhaul agreement, reached just days before Christmas, jumped to the top spot in the list of largest...